ETHIOPIANS voted Sunday in parliamentary elections that are expected to extend the ruling coalition’s two decades in power.

Almost 37 million people are registered to vote at
45,000 polling stations across Ethiopia, whose population of about 97 million
is Africa’s biggest after Nigeria.

In the last election in 2010, the opposition took
8% of the popular vote and won one seat out of 547 in the first-past-the-post
system.
Polling stations closed at 6 p.m. and results are expected by next
Friday, according to the electoral board.

“I have voted for the bee,” Mudesir Lamango, 40,
said in Addis Ababa, referring to the ruling party’s symbol. “They have been
working on many things.”

The ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary
Democratic Front, known as the EPRDF, has campaigned on its record of building
infrastructure and reducing poverty rates. The economy, one of Africa’s
fastest-growing, is expected to expand about 8.5% this year and next, according
to the International Monetary Fund.

It’s a “foregone conclusion” that the EPRDF will
win a majority because of its development record and a fragmented opposition,
said Dereje Feyissa Dori, Africa research
director at the International Law and Policy Institute in Norway.
“Nevertheless, there are enough grievances for the opposition to exploit and
make it to the parliament,” he said in an e- mailed response to questions on
Friday.

Coalition of four

The EPRDF, a coalition of four regional parties led
by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, is competing in four of Ethiopia’s nine
federal regions and also in two self-governing cities—Addis Ababa and Dire
Dawa. Parties allied to the EPRDF, which has more than 7 million members, won
all 48 seats in the remaining five federal regions in 2010.

Voters also elected lawmakers for regional
legislatures on Sunday. The EPRDF and partner parties won all but one of the
1,904 seats in those legislatures in 2010.

The government was expecting a turnout of 90% of registered
voters after 70% cast their ballots by 2 p.m., Arkebe Oqubay, a special adviser
to the prime minister, said. “We believe this election will be exemplary,” he
said in a text message on Sunday.

The EPRDF expects to retain most of its seats
across the country, particularly given strong support among farmers, who make
up about four-fifths of the population, Communications Minister Redwan Hussien
told reporters May 15.

“There might be some seats to be given away and
we’d be happy if that means the decision of the voters,” he said. “If you look
at the urban vote usually it is divided.”

Main competitor

The EPRDF’s main competitor is the four-party
Ethiopia Federal Democratic Unity Forum, or Medrek, which has 270 candidates
for the federal chamber, according to the electoral board. The Blue Party,
which formed in 2012, has 139 candidates and the Ethiopian Democratic Party
fields 165. A total of 58 parties competed in the elections.

The European Union wasn’t invited to monitor this
year’s polls, it said Feb. 26, adding that its previous recommendations hadn’t
been accepted by the government. The EU said in 2010 that the electoral board
relied on EPRDF-controlled local administrations to manage the vote, which was
biased in favor of the incumbent.

The electoral board is “adequately resourced” to
manage the poll, which will also be monitored by 45,000 domestic observers,
African Union election observation mission head Hifikepunye Pohamba told
reporters on May 20.

“Until now it’s been a good process,” said Taye Seyoum, a Medrek
observer of the voting at Holeta town in Oromia region, in an interview.